


Animals

by ayrtonwilbury



Category: Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Q IS ALWAYS GETTING HURT, alec is my sassy character, i feel like i should add more tags, post Skyfall, so does bond but that's a given, things happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayrtonwilbury/pseuds/ayrtonwilbury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baby, I'm preying on you tonight<br/>Hunt you down eat you alive<br/>Just like animals, animals</p>
            </blockquote>





	Animals

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to badwolfbadwolff for beta'ing the shit out of this.  
> Shout out to bjodoodles for the picture and the inspiration  
> Thanks for everyone putting up with my whining.  
> 00q Reverse Bang 2014 !
> 
> EDIT: I fixed the formatting. .. sort of. I hope it's easier to read now ; ^ ;

“Quartermaster!” Alec hollered through the earpiece. “You have to get out of there!”

“I can disable it!” Q hollered back as his fingers flew across the keyboard. The large screens in front of him that were used to monitor missions were black with white numbers counting down to zero. In front of him was his laptop and code strings moving faster than he'd ever seen before. He could do this; he could stop the bomb.

“There's no ti--!”

An explosion ripped through the building which caused Q to fly back from his laptop and he hit the wall behind him. He cried out and clamped his eyes shut as more explosions screamed through. The fire laughed as it engulfed everything in its path and headed towards the young man.

Then it all stopped. Q opened his eyes to see a rather large lion in front of him. The lion stood and protected him. Blood, scars, and glass littered the lion's golden fur. The lion turned around and stared at Q with ice blue eyes as it growled. Q could only stare at the large lion in front of him; its mane was light but had dark patches to signify its age.

“Wh--?” Q questioned before fire crackled around them. He jumped as he stared with wide eyes. “Oh god!”

Q morphed into a small black cat and mewled pathetically before he coughed. The lion growled again as he moved and took the cat into its large jaws before it ran. Q continued to mewl irritably, mostly because of the way he was manhandled out of the building in the jaws of this large beast. The lion barged through the door and out into the cold night. Outside, firefighters hollered to get the fire put out while they ignored the large cat that stalked by. Out of the way, the lion set down the cat next to an ambulance. It coughed as it paced around before Q turned back into his human self. Q continued to cough and EMTs came over to with an oxygen mask to help with the smoke inhalation. Q looked around to see the lion in the background before it disappeared. The EMT gently pushed Q back against the bed and Q began to protest. The EMT hushed him as she gave Q a sedative. Q breathed in before he slowly passed out.

He woke up with a headache. His eyes burned when he opened to see nothing but white. He groaned and clamped his eyes shut once more. A person chuckled above him and he opened his eyes again.

“You're okay,” R said when Q woke up. Q's vision was blurry as he reached for his glasses,  but the room quickly sharpened as he looked around. The monitors that were hooked up to him beeped in a steady rhythm while the sun tried to peek through the blinds. He groaned as he struggled to sit up to look at his second in command. He noticed that R looked fine save for a few scrapes and bruises on her hands and neck. Her left eye was swollen but she still smiled all the same.

“R?” Q asked hoarsely. “What's going on?”

“Well, you're in Medical,” she stated the obvious as she gestured with her hands. “And half of MI6 was blown up, but other than that, it's been a breeze.”

“Why are you so bloody chipper?”

“Because you're finally awake and I don't have to be in charge of this shitstorm anymore.”

“Oh, thank you for that.”

She let out a laugh. “You're welcome. M will be here shortly. Oh, and here.” She handed him a tablet and winked. “So you can do a little work while you're confined.” Q rolled his eyes and R grinned before she turned into her raven form, stared at the quartermaster, and finally flew off. Q leaned his head back swore out, coughed, and held his chest. He moved the tablet to the table and closed his eyes to get some more sleep.

~~

Q woke up to see M and Moneypenny in his room this time. Fucking shit. He stared at the older man before he struggled to sit up while Moneypenny moved to the background. “Sorry, sir,” Q said and bit his lip.

“Sorry? For what?” Mallory asked as he grinned. “Sleeping while you are in Medical?” Q blinked and for a split second saw Mallory as his large red stag form with a large barn owl on the stag’s shoulder. Q blinked again and the man and woman still stood by his bedside. “How are you faring?”

Q shifted on the bed. “Bruised ribs, scrapes and cuts here and there,” Q answered as he tried to remember what the doctors said before he knocked himself out with morphine. “Nothing that requires surgery, thank goodness.”

“Well, cats do have nine lives,” Mallory continued to grin while Moneypenny rolled her eyes. “Well, take a few days to rest, I'd like to see my quartermaster back on duty soon.” M turned and started to walk out of the room.

“Sir...” Q called out. “If I might ask...who is the lion?”

Mallory turned around and gave a wry smile. “Oh? I thought you knew all the animals that double-ohs transformed into?” M nodded and the pair walked out of the room and left the young quartermaster with his thoughts.

It was true, though. He didn't know the animals that the double-ohs turned into. He knew that Alec [006] was a bear, but he really never asked the others. Q took the title during the events of Skyfall and never learned all of the double-ohs. Most, if not all, were already on missions and he hadn't had the time to properly introduce himself to them except for James and Alec. Alec, however, was the only one that ever showed him his animal form. Even though he should know the others, he never quite thought to have asked. Q knew his branch and their animal counterparts. Mostly domestic animals like cats, dogs, birds, even an otter for god’s sake. They were family unlike Q and the double-oh agents; he would just have to work on that. Q got comfortable in his bed and turned on the tablet to try and fix what R had done.

~~

Three days later, Q was back in office. He still had minor cuts and bruises, his body was still stiff, but he was quartermaster. He had a job to do. Now in his new office, Q began to wonder how long it would take before someone else would blow up the damn building but they could rebuild because they always do. That was the cost of working for Her Majesty. While they worked to tweak security, workers helped with rebuilding the offices. Q gave them a wary look but ignored them mostly. One would always stare at him, a man with a small scar underneath his right eye. Q swallowed and when he would make eye contact something would come up and the man would smile and continued to work on the offices.

At least he never kept anything personal in the office, though it would be nice to. Gone was his most prized possession, his Q mug, since it was destroyed in the explosion. He became obsessed with the one that hacked into his system, his goddamn near perfect system that everything else that he had to do wasn't priority. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even hear the door open.

“Quartermaster,” James said gruffly as he moved into the office. “You have my equipment?”

Q looked up and blinked at the agent. Normally, James's chiseled face was a sight to see, but now it was marred with cuts and bruises. Cuts blurred in with the purple and blue hues on his face, which caused his ice blue eyes to stand out quite considerably than before.

“It was you,” Q said as realization dawned on the young quartermaster. “You are the lion that saved me.”

James only stared with those cold blue eyes that caused Q to shiver. “Wasn't it obvious?” was all James asked before he coughed. “I thought you knew what all the double-ohs turned into.”

“You really should go to medical about that cough,” Q stated worried. “It might be smoke inhalation...”

“I'm fine.”

Q frowned. “Don't make me pull rank so I can force you to go to Medical.”

James growled. “I said I'm fine.”

Q swallowed and bit his lip. “All right,” Q stated as he didn't argue the point further. He handed James the small equipment case. “Just a Walther, I'm afraid. Seems Mallory wants to keep the agents close after the...incident a few days ago.”

James nodded and took the case. He tucked it under his arm and shifted on his feet. “Thank you, Q,” he said finally. “Oh! Before I forget.”

James set a small bag on the young man's desk. Q raised an eyebrow and looked over at the agent. “What's this?”

“A thank you,” James replied as he left the office.

Q blinked in confusion before he moved to open the bag. He took out the box and inspected it. He opened it and stuck out his tongue in happiness when he saw the contents inside. He set the Q mug on the desk and just stared at it; he smiled at the mug and felt his heart flutter. James actually replaced the mug that was destroyed.

Hours later, Q tried to figure out how, how this asshole got through his new security. It was a damn near flawless security system, who the hell would try to get through it? He tried to trace back the source, but the person wiped the system clean. God fucking damn it. Q pushed back his laptop and swore. Was this another mistake? Did he make the same mistake as he did with Silva? Q did feel arrogant, knowing that his system was the one protecting Queen and Country, but for how long? Would Mallory let him keep his job after they all realize that this is all his fault? Q could feel that pit in his stomach churning inside of him. Mallory stated that Q was fit for the position even though Silva went through their system, but Q still felt unsure.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked that made Q to jump. He quickly turned into his cat form and leapt onto a bookshelf, hissing loudly. He stared at the voice to show James, who just smirked at him. Q hissed again and jumped down as he changed back.

“Don’t do that!” Q exclaimed as he gently pushed the older man.

James had a smirk on his face as he stepped back. “Sorry, quartermaster,” he said. “You looked troubled.” He held up a bag of take away. “Figured you wanted something to eat.”

Q stared at the brown paper bag before he looked back at James. “Chinese?”

“Thai,” James answered as he began to take out the contents from the bag. He set them up on Q’s desk and handed the young man a fork. Q just smiled in thanks as he motioned James to grab the other chair so they could eat. Together, the two sat in silence as they ate.

“What are you working on?” James asked as he poked around his food.

Q shrugged. “Modifying your Walther, trying to keep your USB encrypted.”

James raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“I think even for me to explain it would be too technical for you,” Q answered with a mouthful of food.

“Don’t be cheeky.”

“Only to you.” Q winked as they ate in silence again.

Every once in a while, James would say something and Q would give an answer and they would do the opposite. Q actually began to enjoy the company of the infamous James Bond.

“Thank you,” Q said finally. “For the food. And my mug.”

“You wouldn’t be quartermaster without it,” James said as he stood up. “And I figured that with you working that hard, you didn’t eat. You need to. You may have nine lives but you need your strength to help me in times of need.”

Q stared at him in confusion. “What are you saying? You just did this so I wouldn’t collapse during a mission?”

James shrugged his shoulders. “Something like that. R isn’t trained well enough to deal with some of the missions that we do.”

Q let out a harsh laugh and dropped his fork. “First you insult me then you insult my team. Well, thank you for the food, double-oh seven but now you can kindly fuck off.”

James blinked at him before he nodded. “Of course, quartermaster.”

Q watched James leave and he swore out loud. What the hell was that? Q angrily picked up the trash and tossed it before he called it a night. Q got ready to go until his phone rang. He wanted to ignore it, just let it go to voicemail, but instincts took over. He shrugged off his coat and answered the phone, booting up his computer to help in any way that he could.

~~

It was late in the evening when Alec heard the key slide into the slot as the door unlocked. He didn’t move as the door opened and a soaked double-oh seven trudged into the flat. James’s shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor before he toed them off.

“How did it go?” Alec asked from his seat as he read the newspaper. James grunted a reply and collapsed onto the couch. “So how did you fuck up this time?”

“I brought him food and he thought that it meant that I needed him to have it so he could watch over my missions.”

“Did you bad mouth R again?”

“Ye-n-no. Shut up.”

Alec put the paper down and glared at the other agent. “Okay, every time we’ve had this conversation what is the first thing I fucking told you not to do?”

James sat up. “To not make fun of his team.”

“And what did you do?”

“Made fun of his team.”

“Uh-huh, and now what are you going to do?”

“Can you fix it?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Alec groaned and tossed the paper onto the table. “You need to learn how to fight your own battles.”

“Why? I have you.”

Alec growled and bared his teeth as he glared at the lion. “I’m not your fucking dog, James.”

“No, you are my grizzly bear that does my errands for me.”

Alec continued to growl. “You bloody owe me, mate.”

James rolled his eyes. “I’ll try to get you a date with R, happy?”

“A raven with a bear?” Alec questioned as he moved to grab his coat. “Now that would be a sight to see.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” James pointed out.

           Alec flipped him off as he left their flat and headed back to MI6. The rain had turned into a downpour and Alec swore out James’s name. There, he ran a hand through his wet hair and grumbled out James’s name again (and a variety of other colorful words) before he knocked on the quartermaster’s door.

“Alec?” Q said and raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Well, I figured that you would be here still, angered at what James said to you earlier,” Alec replied as he walked into the office. “Thought I come by to see how you were doing. Get your side of the story. And my equipment for my mission in the next few days.”

“My side?” Q snorted. “What’s there to tell other than that James is an insufferable asshole.”

Alec chuckled as he moved to sit in one of the chairs. “Come on, tell me all about it, then.”

Q raised an eyebrow at the older agent. Out of all of the agents, Q had surprised himself and talked to Alec the most. Maybe because he was so easy to talk to, an angered bear underneath the quiet demeanor. Alec already knew so many things about the young quartermaster, even his name; his real name. Q huffed finally and closed the door. He walked back to his desk while Alec stared at him with a bemused look on his face.

“God, sometimes he can be so….UGH!” Q grunted and collapsed into his chair. The chair swiveled underneath him as he stared at Alec with wide eyes. Alec just gave a reassuring smile.

“Quartermaster, we turn into animals that represent us,” Alec stated as he leaned back in his chair. Q stared at Alec and tried to remember that underneath the human flesh was a gigantic fucking bear. “And you finally figured out that James turns into a lion.”

“Yes, I'm aware.”

“So, do you know the traits of a lion?”

“Authoritative, dominant, aggressive, asshole?”

Alec chuckled as he moved to light a cigarette but Q moved and took the cigarette from the Russian's mouth. Alec frowned but continued to talk. “Don't forget, loyal. James is very loyal. Especially when it comes to people he cares about.”

Q raised an eyebrow. “Cares about...he cares about me?”

“Ever since he saw you at that bloody museum. Half of the time, he can't stop talking about you.”

Q began to blush. “R-really?”

Alec stood up and gave him a smile. “You should hear him at home. He's like a fucking little schoolboy with his first crush.”

“How long?”

“Since the museum,” Alec answered as he moved to light a cigarette. Q rolled his eyes and gave up trying to stop the Russian. Alec blew out smoke and let the cigarette dangle from his lips. “He knew from the moment he met you that you would be perfect for the job, just like the old Q.”

“Oh god he didn't have a thing for the old Q did he?”

Alec let out a large laugh. He wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled at Q. “Oh, quartermaster, you are a funny man.”

Q grinned as he drank out of his mug. “I try.”

Alec chuckled while he shook his head and stood up. He stretched and stared at the young man. “Well, quartermaster, I must be going. Do you have my equipment for this assignment?”

“Ah,” Q said as he rummaged around for the agent's equipment. “It's a non-lethal mission, you remember this, right?” Q looked up at him while he handed the Russian a small USB drive. “No guns. I swear to god if I hear that you killed someone on this surveillance mission, I will destroy your credit.”

“Joke's on you, I don't have credit,” Alec stated as he pocketed the drive and turned to leave. “Thank you, quartermaster.”

Q rolled his eyes and turned into his feline form. He stretched and moved towards a heat source, and just wanted to sleep.

He woke up a couple hours later to double- oh one storming into his office. Q quickly changed back while the man growled, but Q held his ground as he frowned at the older man.

“Edward Done,” Q said curtly. “What can I help you with?”

The large man slammed his weapon onto the table. Whatever remains of the weapon were now gone as it was nothing but pieces on his desk. Q looked up to see a large wild dog before he blinked and the older agent was there once more. The man continued to growl, the man’s canines large and ready to attack. “Who the hell authorized me to have a faulty weapon?”

Q blinked as he tried to remember what the man’s mission was. When he remembered he shook his head. “No one authorized you a bloody weapon, Done, you were on reconnaissance! You know what M stated after the events of Skyfall!”

Done let out a roar which caused Q to tremble slightly. Done turned into his wild dog form while Q changed into his cat form and quickly jumped onto the bookshelf just as Done began to bark.

“Eddie!” a voice boomed. The dog quickly looked over at the door and changed back into human. “Leave him be.”

“He’s not your pet, James,” Done answered and pushed through double-seven before he stormed off.

Q hissed and quickly changed back to human. “I didn’t need your help!”

“He had you pinned to the bookshelf!”

“I had it under control! I don’t need you to help me whenever I’m in trouble!”

“He shouldn’t do that to you!”

“And you can?”

“I wouldn’t do that!”

“And what would you do?”

“I just…”

“What to insult me again?” Q questioned angrily, his hair and body began to rise. “Mock me and my team once more?”

“That’s not--”

“I really don’t have time for this, Bond.” Q glared at the agent, his chest puffed out as his canines began to enlarge. “You are going on assignment in a few days and I have to get your equipment ready.”

“I’m sorry,” James said quickly. “I didn’t mean-”

“James, kindly fuck. Off,” Q said finally. “I can’t work with you here.”

James opened his mouth before he closed it. He swallowed before he nodded. James turned and left the office while Q rubbed his temples.

The next day after his fight with James there was a note on his desk. It only said Sorry. Q ripped it up and threw it out before he went about his day.

The next day he received Swiss chocolate and when he received Swiss chocolate, how could he say no? That same day, one of the Q-branch members stated that one of the construction guys was in the branch, looking at the computers. They quickly shooed him out of the office but they said that it creeped them out that they had to do top secret work with construction workers near by. Then again, it was just a front that they were an export service, but to have civilians near security secrets put the branch in a state of unease. Q tried to tell his workers that it was nothing to worry about, that construction was almost done and they needn’t worry about them anymore. Just continue to do their jobs and keep making sure that the security was in top form once more.

On the third day, he received equipment on his desk. They were burned but somewhat intact. Q frowned as he prodded the Walther with a finger. He tried placing the parts together in careful concentration.

“He’s trying,” a voice said from the other side of the office which cause Q to immediately change into his feline form. He was on his desk before he turned to see Alec sitting on his couch. Q hissed as his hair stuck up as he tried to look as big as he could. Alec just smiled from the couch. “Are you done?”

Q hissed again before he changed back into his human form. He sat on his desk and continued to glare angrily at the double-oh. “Why the bloody fuck are you in my office? Aren’t you supposed to be on mission?”

Alec shrugged and tossed him a USB drive, which Q failed to catch. “I got the files you needed,” Alec explained. “And had a nice long conversation with a bumbling idiot named James.”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Q stated in an angered tone as he moved to grab the USB drive from the floor.

Alec nodded but kept his stance. “Kitty has some claws now?”

Q barred his teeth as his eyes changed feline. Alec only smiled as he saw Q’s fingers turn into claws.

“Put those away, kitten,” Alec said and rolled his eyes. “Don’t take your anger out on me because James pissed you off.”

“All you agents are alike!” Q stated as he challenged the Russian. “Just because you have apex predators as your other half doesn’t mean that I can be pushed around!”

Alec growled and bared his teeth as well, his eyes turned black. “I am trying to help you!” Alec exclaimed.

“Stop trying to make me go out with your friend! I don’t date agents!”

Alec transformed into his bear form while Q turned into his feline form. Q was on his desk and hissed at the bear; his hair stuck upward. Alec stood up on his hind legs before a hand moved onto the bear’s chest. Both Alec and Q stared at the newcomer, James. Q stared before Alec let out a warbled grunt.

“Alec, that’s enough,” James stated calmly. “Can you please leave us alone?”  

Alec grunted and fell onto all fours. He stared the cat on the desk before he stalked off. James let out a breath of relief before he looked at Q. “Second time I’ve saved you from a double-oh.” James shifted. “But, it looked like you didn’t need my help this time around.”

Q stared at James before he changed back. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared. “Can I help you?”

James rubbed the back of his neck. “I...well...you were right.” James nodded. “You were right about you holding your own. I understand that now.”

Q nodded as well. “Well, I’m glad that you finally figured that out.”

“Don’t be a cheeky git.”

“Don’t be an arse,” Q countered. The pair smiled at each other, pure genuine smiles. Q moved around his desk and picked up some paperwork. “I’ll have your equipment ready in the next couple of days.”

“Have dinner with me tonight,” James blurted out.

“Well that wasn’t very suave from the most flirtatious agent we have at MI6.”

James frowned at the young man. “Is that a no?”

“It wasn’t a yes, either,” Q answered. “But, if you are asking me to dinner…”

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” James stated as he walked out of the office. When he left, Alec was waiting for him with a large smile on his face. James walked past the Russian and Alec picked up his pace to catch up with James. James shoved his hands in his pockets as he fished out his cigarettes. “Shut up, Alec.”

“Look you have your own balls back!” Alec stated happily as they walked out of the building. “I can now take them off our mantle and give them back to you!”

“I said shut up!” James shouted as he wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck as they laughed out of MI6 and back home.

~~

As James spent more time with Q, he began to notice little things. Like how he liked his tea made and how he took certain foods. James even noticed when Q was in his feline form, he had light colored circles around his eyes; it reminded James of Q wearing his glasses. He especially liked when Q put on clothes. Not like they had sex yet, but one night after dinner it was pouring rain and James gave him a new shirt. He watched as Q pulled the shirt over his head first before he pulled his arms into the sleeves; James liked that memory the most. It had been a while since he felt like this with someone. That last someone was...James swallowed and shook his head of those memories. That’s all they were- memories.

James didn’t ever want to talk about that mission, not even to Alec. Somehow, James knew that Alec already knew. Of course he would, the bastard would always look up information if he wanted to help. He stood out in the balcony and smoked until Alec came and joined him.

“I thought you quit,” Alec stated as he took out his own pack of cigarettes to smoke. He held up his hands against the lighter, lit up his cigarette, and blew out a puff of smoke into the cold air.

“I did,” James answered as he lit another cigarette. He snapped his lighter shut as the two of them stared out into the night sky.

“Have you had sex with him yet?” Alec asked after a moment’s silence.

“Way to stray right into that part of the conversation.”

“I’m assuming no, then.”

“No, we have not.”

“Does he have to melt your cold heart?”

James stared at Alec with wide eyes at the words the other agent used. Flashes of his past life filled his mind before he shook his head. James swallowed and with a shaky hand, moved to raise his cigarette to his mouth and breathed in smoke. Alec raised an eyebrow in concern and James just blew smoke in his face. “Fuck you,” James said finally.

Alec barked out a laugh. “C’mon, yer James Bond! Just go into his office and just fuck him!”

“I don’t want to rush it.”

“Oh my god, you fucking poof.”

James pushed him. “Come on, fuck off.”

“Yer acting like a fookin’ teenager,” Alec said in a cockney accent and stubbed out his cigarette. “Why are you so afraid?”

“Because...I think I love him,” James answered as he also stubbed out his cigarette. “And I don’t want to fuck it up.”

“You’re fucking it up by not fucking him.”

James rolled his eyes and moved back into their flat. “I don’t want to push him away when I have him this close now. And...every time I get someone...they get hurt.”

Alec moved and grabbed them two beers from the fridge. “So you think by not fuckin him, you’re doing him a service?” Alec collapsed onto the couch next to James and handed him a beer.

James shrugged his shoulders. “Something like that.”

“Okay, if you don’t fuck him soon, I’m afraid someone else will,” Alec stated and chugged his beer. “He’s a strong kid, James, I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to hurt his feelings.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about.”

“What, you? Can you not get it up?”

“Alec, no, fuck off. It’s not that.”

“I thought skinny boffins were your thing. Remember that one intern that was here? God, you lusted after him for so long.”

“Shut up.”

“Shame Moneypenny got to him first.”

James punched Alec in the shoulder. “I said shut up!”

“Why are you so afraid?” Alec finally asked already fed up with this conversation. “If you fucking love the boffin, then fuck him already. He’s a good kid and he knows what he’s doing. You fucking him ain’t going to be the end of the world. Or worse, him getting killed, jesus christ.”

“That’s the part m’worried about,” James murmured to himself but instead just opened his beer and began to drink.

~~

“Moneypenny, what-?” Q asked one day as the woman strolled into his office. “What can I help you with?”

“I’m just here to drop off these forms,” she stated as she handed the quartermaster a large stack of papers. “Forms for dating other employees.”

Q sputtered and choked on his tea. His face immediately turned red as he stared at the large barn owl. He blinked and saw a smiling Moneypenny. “How did…”

“My boy, everyone knows,” she answered as she waited for the young man to sign the papers. Q grunted as he patted himself down for a pen and Moneypenny handed him one. Q muttered a “thanks” and began to sign forms. “Alec texted the entirety of MI6-”

“I’m totally destroying his credit now,” Q stated angrily as he stabbed the papers with more force than he should have.

“And there was even a pool on when the two of you would get together.” She smiled, stood up, and took the papers from him; her long fingernails felt like talons across his skin. “And I’d like to thank you for getting together now. I’m about two hundred pounds richer.”

“Two hundred? What the fu-”

Moneypenny waved and immediately turned into her dark colored barn owl form and flew off. Her screech sounded an awful like laughter as it echoed through the MI6 halls. Q’s ears burned with embarrassment and moved to his computer, effectively destroying Alec’s credit.

~~

Q had practically moved in with James at his flat that he shared with Alec. To give them privacy, Q let Alec crash at his place so the landlord wouldn’t take him off the lease. It was the least he could do for always being at his flat. After the hustle of getting MI6 back together, Q decided to work from home, in his pajamas and drinking his favorite tea. James would be going on mission tomorrow and Q wanted to stay with James as long as he could. James had left earlier that day and Q didn’t mind; he enjoyed the silence until he heard James practically barge into the room towards him.

“James wh-” Q asked before the older man smashed their lips together. Q tensed as James held onto him tightly before he finally relaxed. He wrapped his arms around James’s neck and grinned. “Fuck…”

“Let’s,” James growled as he pushed Q into the bedroom. “Fuck, Q.”

“Luke,” Q said quietly as he looked up at James. He licked his lips in anticipation as he smiled widely. “My real name is Luke.”

“Luke,” James repeated. “I like the sound of that…”

“It’ll sound better when you scream it.”

“You naughty little thing…”

Q grinned wider as they stumbled towards the bed, their lips locked as they collapsed. James struggled with Q’s shirt while Q untucked James’s shirt and tugged at the older man’s trousers. Q looked up before he switched their positions so that the James was on the bed. Q’s eyes wandered as he saw the scars and the faded bruises on the older man’s body. Yellow and green colored bruises danced around James’s body and Q could only remember when he saw the large lion standing before him in the fire. Q grinned as he moved to grab his supplies in the nightstand.

“Have you ever had sex with a man before, James?” Q asked him as he began to coat his fingers with lube.

“Many times, Luke,” James answered as he sat up to watch the young man get the supplies; a small bottle of lube and condoms.

“I see, but have you ever fucked by a man?”

“Haven’t found the right one yet.”

“Don’t worry...I’ll be gentle,” Q grinned as he hefted up the older man’s hips, moving the man’s legs on his shoulders. Q licked his lips before he pushed a finger inside of the older man. Q felt the James tense as he continued to push his finger through the ring of muscle. Afterwards, James relaxed under his touch. Q continued to grin as he added a second finger. Slowly, he began to scissor his fingers in the James, watching James moan in pleasure. Q kept the smile on his face as he added a third finger. He watched as James writhed in pleasure, just by his fingers, and it was beautiful. James fisted the sheets underneath them and Q watched the James’s cock respond as Q found James’s sweet spot.

“Fuck, Luke,” James panted. “Yer gonna make me come before you even fuck me.”

“Well that wouldn’t be fun,” Q stated as he pulled out his fingers. “I bet it would take you a long time to get hard again.”

“Don’t be an arse.”

Q ripped the condom packet open with his teeth as he moved slowly to put on the condom. He let James’s legs rest on his shoulders as he smiled. “You ready?”

“If you aren’t going to fuck me I’m going to pounce you and fuck you blind.”

“Another time, love.”

James let out a laugh and Q moved and pushed himself inside. James let out a gasp and Q waited. When he felt that James was relaxed enough he slowly began to move. He thrust his hips slow and lazily as he held onto the James’s hips. James moaned and immediately moved his legs and wrapped them around Q’s waist.

“Faster,” James panted out as he continued to moan.

Q moved forward and kissed James to quiet him. Q continued to thrust harder and began to move faster. He pushed his tongue into the James’s mouth and it created a dance in his mind. Their tongues would intertwine while their bodies began to melt against each other. James moved a hand down to his aching cock and began to stroke himself in rhythm with Q’s thrusting. Q pulled back and gasped for air, his body full of pleasure and his skin covered in sweat. Q frowned and slapped James’s hand away. James protested and glared at him with those ice blue eyes. Q kissed him again before he moved his own hand to wrap it around James’s throbbing cock. He could feel the precome drizzling down the man’s shaft as James began to moan louder still. Q bucked faster into the James, stroking him at the same wild pace before James cried out, coming onto his stomach and hand. Q felt James clench around his cock and he thrust one last time before he came himself. Q gasped out, wishing that he wasn’t wearing a condom so he could empty himself inside of the older man. He thrust into the James until he rode out his orgasm. He panted and stopped before he looked at James. Q saw how sated James looked, the sweat glistening while his come stayed splattered on his stomach. Q moved forward and began to lap at the come on James’s chest. James let out a low moan and ran his fingers through Q’s hair and fisted it.

“Jesus Christ, Luke,” James finally said after a brief silence.

“Not Christ, but close enough,” Q said and smiled.

“Cheeky little kitten,” James said while Q moved to clean them up. He tied off the condom and tossed it in the bin before he crawled back into the James’s arms. Exhausted, Q closed his eyes and fell asleep while James kept his large arms around him, fingers slowly dancing along his skin.

Q woke up with the sun dancing into the room. He let out a low moan and tried to cover his eyes but his arms were trapped. Q turned to see James had wrapped his own lion-like arms around his waist. Q chuckled and turned to kiss him softly. James stirred and opened his eyes; he smiled and kissed the top of Q’s head before he slowly changed into his lion form.

“Your mane changed color,” Q stated to the lion as he let his fingers run through the thick mane. The lion purred and rolled onto his side. Q laughed and changed into his cat form. James grinned and began to groom the small cat, letting his long tongue scrape across Q's back. Q tensed against the large tongue but immediately relaxed. He purred happily as he stayed close to the large lion as it continued to groom. Q purred loudly while James continued to groom him until James felt like he groomed enough, Q stared at James before he changed back. Q lay on the bed naked while James stayed in his lion form; Q moved closer and wrapped his arms around James’s large neck.

“I don’t want you to go,” Q whispered as he held onto the lion tightly.

The lion let out a warbled moan and slowly changed back into James. James held onto Q and kissed his forehead. “I’ll only be gone for a few days, you said so yourself.”

“I still don’t want you to go,” Q pouted as he touched the older man’s chest.

James just grinned and held onto him. “Don’t worry, kitten, I’ll be back before you know it.”

Q didn’t express his worry. Instead, he moved closer to the James and held onto him tightly. For the rest of the day, they stayed in bed. Q held onto him tight and James just smiled and kissed his forehead.

“I love you,” James said quietly, their hands entwined together.

Q smiled and kissed the James’s hand. “I love you, too,” he said finally. “Even if you are a twat.”

James let out a laugh. “Me? A twat? What would make you think I’m a twat?”

“You lose equipment.”

“That’s your only reason?” James teased as he moved to lay on top of the young man and tickled his sides. Q let out a shriek and tried to get James off of him. He turned into his cat form and James turned into his lion form. Q tried to run but James caught him again and began to groom him. Q yowled but swatted at the lion’s nose. James grunted but continued to lick at the young man’s fur. Q gave up again and purred against him, nuzzling against the lion’s rough fur.

They said their goodbyes professionally, back in the office. Q gave James his equipment and all James could do is smile and winked at the young man.  

“I’ll be back before you know it,” was the last thing James told the quartermaster again. He moved closer and whispered: “I love you, Luke.” Q stared at him and nodded, mouthing the words as well. James waved and walked out of the office, equipment in hand. Q frowned and moved to do his work; he was quartermaster, not James Bond’s boyfriend.

~~

James had been gone longer than necessary. He went dark sometime last night when they were on the phone. Q told himself that he wasn’t worried, but he was. He was quartermaster and quartermasters don’t date their agents. Agents don’t last long, one member of Q-branch stated. They’ll get bored of you as soon as they start their mission.

Q was watching over his branch and drinking tea. He sighed as he tried to figure out where the hell James was. Even though James went dark, he did install a tracker in the gun that he gave the older man. Maybe because it was a gun, James wouldn’t lose it. Then again, it was James. Q giggled to himself and continued to drink his tea as R worked next to him.

“There’s been a breach!” R hollered as her fingers flew across the keyboards. “Something is eating all the code!”

Q stared at the computer screens as his code, his damn near perfect code melted away as another began to take its place. The code disappeared and turned into a sugar skull which laughed at the entirety of MI6. Then it flashed five words and still haunted Q to this day.

Not such a clever boy.

“It can’t be,” Q whispered as he typed just as fast as R. Not him, anyone but him. As everyone in Q-branch continued to try and secure everything, cannisters rolled into the branch. Q heard them drop as he tried to find where they all were. “Look out!”

The cannisters hissed and smoke began to filter into Q-branch. People began to cough and ducked under the smoke to avoid it. Q hit the alarm which caused everyone to scramble. Q began to run but was grabbed harshly. He cried out and turned around, only to stare at wide eyes. “You…”

The man with the scar under his eye stared at Q before he growled. He lunged for the young man but Q quickly changed into his cat form as he began to run. Another alarm screamed through the halls and the sprinklers went off. Q slipped on the water as he made his way out of the building with the other employees. He weaved through the legs of the employees before someone grabbed the scruff of his neck. He let out a yowl and hissed as he tried to swat at the person that grabbed him.

“Got him!” the guy yelled.

“Cage him and let’s go!” another hollered and tossed another smoke bomb. Animal howls and human screams could be heard throughout the halls of MI6. A raven flew by and circled around the two men while it cawed.

“Kill ‘em!” the first guy shouted.

The raven continued to circle around before the man transformed into a large gorilla. The gorilla slammed his fists to his chest and hit the raven out of the air. The raven crashed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

“God damn it! Move out!” a man shouted. The gorilla grabbed the cage and began to run. The raven stared as the cat yowled before R changed to human. She panted, her vision blurred. She held out her hands to catch the walls and blinked as she tried to focus. She saw Alec run to her and knelt down before he held her to check for wounds.

“They took him,” R stated on the verge of passing out. “They took Q.”

“Do you know where they went?” Alec demanded as he moved her to the wall so she could lean on it. He then changed into his brown bear form. He roared and stood up on his hind legs to look around.

R pointed to where she saw the gorilla and the others took Q as she closed her eyes. Double-oh Eight stared at R before he turned into a timber wolf. He let out a howl and throughout the building other wolves began to howl as well. The timber wolf sniffed the air to catch the scent of the quartermaster or the men who took him. He paced and huffed when all he could smell was smoke. The other wolves came to double-oh eight and one turned back into human.

“I can’t smell anything Bill,” double-oh nine said. “They smoked the entire area, Q’s scent is drowned out.”

Bill changed back, stared at Nine, and then at the other wolves. “We must find him! Go!”

The other agents nodded and turned into wolves before they scattered out of MI6. Bill moved and found Alec. Alec let out a roar before he changed back.

“Anything?” Alec asked the other agent.

“Nothing,” Bill answered. “How’s R?”

“Getting treated by Medical,” Alec answered as the two agents began to stalk towards Q-branch. “Who’s in charge now?”

The small batch of Q-branch members that had returned stared at the two agents before they looked at each other. Alec and Bill panted as they tried to establish who was in charge. One finally stood up.

“We...other than Q and R, we haven’t established another leader,” she said quietly and tried not to make eye contact with the bear and wolf.

Alec growled as he towered over the young technician. “Then you are in charge until R gets back.” The tech swallowed and nodded. Alec let out a roar and the tech turned into her otter form before she hid under a desk. “Call back the rest of the agents! We need to get them to help us!”

Hours after the attack, the Q-branch members were out of sync and too scared to do anything. The agents that were currently at MI6 stalked Q-branch as they searched for answers while the rest of the agents made their way back from their missions. Most of the members were so frightened that they turned into their animal counterparts and refused to help. Tanner and Moneypenny were in the office as they tried to round up the agents to get them out of Q-branch but failed miserably. Alec managed to grab the otter tech and growled in her face. He was about to holler when a voice interrupted.

“Double-oh six!” R shouted. Everyone turned to see the young woman walk into Q-branch. Alec could hear the collective sigh of relief when the young woman glared at him. “Stop harassing my techs.”

“You’re supposed to be in medical,” Alec stated as his eye twitched.

“And you’re supposed to not be an asshole, so it looks like we’re both lying to each other.”

Alec just grinned as R continued into Q-branch; her arm was in a sling and she had a small limp. She limped until she stood behind Q’s desk, which surveyed the entirety of the branch. The members of Q branch looked towards their new leaders like the agents growled like savaged beasts awaiting a kill order. “Start finding Q’s tracker,” she ordered to her colleagues. “Try to find how far he is, that’ll be a good start.” R looked over at Alec, who just growled while Bill stood next to him. “Alec, have you contacted James about Q yet?”

Alec twitched before he shook his head. “Q said that James went dark. I haven’t been able to contact him. I’ve left messages.”

R pinched the bridge of her nose as she swore. Tanner, Moneypenny, and Alec all stared at her. “Then let’s hope that he’s heard something to come back. That lion is pretty protective of his mate.”

~~

Q woke up tied to a chair. He sighed at the irony. He looked around the room to see that he was most likely in a basement. He made a face when he could smell the mold and stagnant air inside. To the right of him was a table with many devices that he couldn’t see. Q swallowed as panic began to set in and he struggled to get free. He tried to morph into his cat form, but he couldn't calm down. He could feel blood drip down his nose and forehead as he tried to figure out where he was. He stared downward and groaned; his left leg looked shot to hell. Q breathed in and tried to stand. Pain immediately shot up his leg and he cried out. Q stared at the wound, skin practically ripped opened as blood dried around the wound. Fuck, it hurt, it fucking hurt.

He then heard a hyena's laugh. Q's head snapped up as he tried to find where the laugh came from. A hyena stalked over as it continued to laugh. The hyena twitched as it walked, his head snapped back and forth as it continued to laugh; it unnerved Q as he could feel the laugh run down his spine. Q noticed that the left half of its face was partially melted off. The left eye bulged out while the teeth were jagged and spiked. It’s fur was a mangled mess from burns and scars that littered its body. It quickly changed into human and the human smiled at the young man while Q stared in bewilderment.

“You,” Q whispered and swallowed as he stared with large eyes.

The man grinned wildly as he moved to sit across from the quartermaster. Q watched as Silva walked, stiff as if he was a zombie. Q swallowed and continued to stare in horror. This wasn’t Silva, this was a dead man in front of him with the look of Silva. The man’s hair was no longer the platinum blonde that he remembered but now horrendously dirty blonde, as if Silva never washed it. Dirt and grime littered the man’s body as well as a large hole in the back of the man’s jacket. If Q looked close enough, he could still see the blood stains from the knife James threw in his back.

“You're dead,” Q stammered after he tried to gather up his thoughts. “Bond killed you.”

Silva's head stopped its twitch and slowly turned towards the young man. Q froze in his seat before Silva practically ran towards him and came uncomfortably close to the young man. “I was never dead!” Silva shouted. “You! Them! They all left me to die in that god forsaken church! With her!” Silva panted as he growled. “Just like they did to me in China!”

Q jumped at the words and clamped his eyes shut. This wasn't real, for the love of christ, this wasn't real. Why would Silva still be alive? Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to resurrect this son of a bitch? Silva untied his left arm and slammed it onto the table. and Q let out a cry as he stared at him.

“We don’t need to have guests interrupting us, now do we?” Silva grinned as he flicked opened a pocket knife and stabbed Q in the arm.

“Fuck!” Q cried out as he struggled to get away while the blade continued to dig deeper into his skin.

“The more you fight, the more I will make it hurt,” Silva said in a sing-songy voice. Q panted and clamped his eyes shut while he felt the blade dig around before Silva let out a happy cheer. “There. See was that so hard?”

Q opened his eyes and stared as Silva destroyed the tracker and tossed the pieces aside. Silva moved with careful precision, wrapped Q’s arm and leg with gauze and tied his wrists together. Silva grinned and left him alone once more.

After being left alone, Q began to look around the room. There wasn’t much, there were no windows, the walls were bare, and all there was in the room was a chair. He stood up from the chair and immediately hit the wall. Q blinked in confusion. “Fucking...serious?” Q grumbled to himself. “I’m on a fucking boat? For fuck’s sake.”

Q walked towards the door before his legs finally gave out. He let out a cry and fell to the floor. He panted as he stared at the door before it opened. He looked up to see a grunt come into the room for a quick moment only to drop a tray of food before they closed the door. Q stared at the food; bread and water. Q huffed. So fucking cliche. He should eat it, but he wasn’t hungry. Well, that was a lie, he was starving. He quickly ate what was given before he limped back to the corner. He transformed into his cat form and tried to get some sleep. He didn’t know when, but the door opened and Q transformed back. He glared at the two men before he was slapped across the face. The men grabbed Q by the arms and dragged him into another part of the ship. Q quickly glanced around to see the moon shining overhead on the choppy waters. He was tossed into another room and forced into a chair. They two men left the room and closed the door. Q huffed and crossed his arms.

“Did my men hurt you in any way?” Silva asked from the shadows. Silva emerged and Q just looked over at him, bored.

“What do you want from me?” Q finally asked him. “You’ve already established that you can effectively get into my system, so why need me?”

Silva grinned and Q had to look away from the man’s face. Silva hummed as he began to pace around the quartermaster. “So arrogant like the rest of you rats in Q-branch. As soon as you pull one string, the entire body unravels into nothing.”

Q let out a breath as he tried to feel brave but underneath he was terrified. “So now you’re going to just talk to me in riddles?”

Silva let out a growl as his head transformed into the hyena. Q gulped as he began to shiver. Silva’s head transformed back as the older man cracked his neck. “I think you deserve another long time out.”

Silva moved and backhanded the younger man which caused Q to cry out. Q felt the blood drip from his mouth as Silva stormed out of the room and slammed the door. Q spat out blood and shook his head. “So, instead of being in one room, I’m in another. Good job, Luke.”

What seemed like an eternity, the door opened once more and Silva came back with food. Q felt his mouth water when he smelled the cooked steak. Silva’s men brought in a small table and placed it in front of the young man. Silva placed the plate on the table and Q didn’t move. Silva sat across from the young man before he took out a fork and knife and began to eat in front of the younger man. Q’s eye twitched as his stomach growled.

“You know,” Silva stated with a mouthful of steak. “I was like you once, naive of what MI6 would teach me.”

“And yet you still betrayed them.”

Silva slammed the silverware on the table which made Q jump. Silva threw the plate at the wall as the contents slid downward. He then grabbed the table and did the same thing. The table crumbled to the ground and Q stared at Silva defiantly.

“They betrayed me!” Silva corrected. “I did my job!”

“Your arrogance led to your downfall!” Q countered with anger in his eyes as he stood up to face the monster that was once an agent. “Hacking the Chinese? Any first time hacker knows that’s a stupid thing to do!”

Silva let out a howl in anger; Silva’s eyes turned black while Q’s eyes turned yellow. Silva growled before his eyes slowly changed back to normal. Silva ran a hand through his hair and just stared at the quartermaster. “We would have made a great team, you and I. Nothing would have stopped us.”

“That might be, but at least I have morals.”

Silva barked out a laugh. “Morals. You think what you’re doing has morals? They will stop at nothing to get only what they want. No matter how much it’ll hurt everyone else. And I am trying to make you see, just like last time. Make you see that MI6, England, is nothing but a shambled mess of what it could be.”

“You’re wrong.”

“And so are you,” Silva countered and left the room.

Q was left with the messy room and he swallowed. As he limped over to a corner, the lights went out and he was engulfed into the darkness.

~~

Time began to fade. He could feel the ship rock back and forth and Q had to wonder where the hell they were even going. Q closed his eyes and tried to not think of the pain throbbing in his leg. Q sighed and leaned his head back. He tried to change into his cat form but he couldn’t; he didn’t have the energy to do so. The door slammed opened and caused Q to jump; his head snapped over towards the door and saw Silva there.

Silva dragged Q out of the room and onto the front of the ship. He forced Q onto his knees and all he could see was James in front of him; a spark of hope filled his body but also fear. Q feared that they weren’t going to get off this boat alive. Q tried to find a center for balance as waves crashed into the boat; and water splashed onto the bow. Q let out a huff when he felt the water seep into his trousers which caused him to shiver. Two grunts had James’s arms behind his back as James tried to get to him.

“I thought I killed you,” James quipped at Silva. The answer James received was a punch to the face; the blood splattered over his cheek as he stared at Silva. He spat out blood and smiled with blood tinted teeth. “I should have tried harder.”

“James,” Q panted but Silva pulled him back and forced the quartermaster onto his knees. Q saw that it was only James; why wouldn’t he come with backup? Q began to shake in fear, what if no one found them? Q tugged on his bonds to test how tight they were before he gave up; he was too exhausted to even try to break free.

James made eye contact with Q and with just the look of concern, calmed Q down a little. Silva saw the interaction and let out a giggle. Silva held onto Q and forced him upward. Silva held onto his shirt tighter as they looked at James. “Oh….I see it in your eyes,” Silva stated as he shook his head. “You love him, don’t you? Mummy would not have approved.”

James struggled as he growled. James’s canines enlarged and Silva just smiled wickedly. “You have me now, Silva, you can kill me.”

Silva shook his head. “Well...I’d rather do this instead.”

Silva pushed Q over the railing. Q gasped in shock as he hit the icy waters below. Q struggled with his bindings as he tried to kick his way back to the surface. He let out a scream as he could feel the icy waters fill his lungs. Q looked up but couldn’t find the surface. He looked around quickly as he continued to struggle. He couldn’t see a goddamn thing! He panicked as he kicked in a direction. His body began to feel heavy as he slowly stopped moving. He let out another breath as he felt himself fading away. He sunk deeper into the waters before he felt something grab his shirt. With blurry eyes, they moved faster and faster until Q breached the surface. Q immediately coughed and vomited out the salty water as he looked around. Through the crashing waves, he saw a flash of white. Q blinked as the polar bear let out a worried grunt and dragged him back to the ship. As they swam closer, Q could hear screams and gunfire onboard the ship. Another scream ripped through the night sky as a person was tossed overboard. The polar bear grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him upward towards the ladder on the stern of the ship.

“Can you move, quartermaster?” Q watched as the polar bear transformed into an agent.

“Fairbanks?” Q sputtered as the saltwater dried his throat. “What-?”

Fairbanks moved to hold onto the ladder and untied the young man before he pushed him upward. “Come on, James needs my help.”

“Who else is here?” Q asked as they climbed up the ladder. Fairbanks pushed Q close to the ladder as another grunt screamed past them and into the water.

“Come on!” Fairbanks hollered as another wave hit the ship. Q shivered as he struggled to climb the ladder before they found the top deck. Q climbed over and coughed, the feeling of relief washed over him. Fairbanks moved and grabbed Q and onto the bridge. Two grunts were on the bridge and Fairbanks roared. The grunts tackled down the agent while Q immediately morphed into his feline form. He let out a whimpering mewl before Fairbanks turned into the large polar bear that frightened him. He easily grabbed the two grunts and tossed them out off the bridge. When he changed back, he locked one of the doors. “Quartermaster!”

Q came out from under the helm as he stared up at the agent. He changed back and panted. “I’m...I’m here…”

Fairbanks moved and grabbed a blanket to wrap around the young man. After he did so, he went to the other side where another door lay. “Stay here. Keep the doors locked. The other agents are trying to get this situation under control.”

Q sank to the floor as he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. He twitched when he heard the gunshots, the roars of animals, and the waves that crashed onto the ship. Q slowly moved and opened the door. He moved to the front of the ship to see the lion fighting against the hyena. The hyena changed back into Silva and the lion tackled Silva to the ground. The lion roared in Silva’s face before Silva pushed a gun up against the lion’s chest and fired.

“No!” Q screamed as he ran towards the lion. Silva pushed the large beast off of him and aimed the weapon at Q. Q skidded to a halt and raised his hands.

“How many times do I have to kill you so you’ll stay dead?!” Silva hollered at Q and fired. Q closed his eyes and waited for a bullet but instead heard the bullet ricochet off somewhere as the gun hit the deck. Q opened his eyes and saw a large brown bear holding up Silva high and letting out a roar. Q quickly moved and grabbed the gun. Silva morphed into a hyena and snarled at the brown bear. Silva bit down on the bear’s arm and the bear roared in pain. The bear slashed at the hyena but the hyena kept a tight grip. Q calmed his breathing and held up the weapon. Q lined up his shot and fired. The hyena dropped onto the deck while blood streamed down towards Q. Q blinked and stared at the brown bear before it transformed into Alec. Alec ran up to Q and began to talk.

Q saw Alec’s lips move, but couldn’t hear anything. He dropped the weapon as he moved towards the front of the ship where Fairbanks held onto James’s wound. Q dropped to his knees as the pain in his leg returned. The gunshot echoed in his head and caused his ears to ring, but everything was silent as Q stared at James. James struggled into his human form and Fairbanks continued to press on his wound. James was pale as he coughed out blood, but he just smiled at Q. Q smiled back before he passed out.

~~

Q moaned as he slowly opened his eyes. Above were the same fluorescent lights from just a few weeks ago from the explosion at MI6. God damn it. Q sat in the hospital bed as he stared at the older man. Both were covered in scars, bruises, and bandages; they really needed to stop meeting like this. Q looked over at Bond and noticed that his stomach was covered in bandages; why the fuck wasn’t James in a bed? Q then stared at his arm to see that there were stitches from the tracker; Q closed his eyes and let out a mournful moan.

“You’re okay,” James said, relieved.

Q looked over at him. “I thought you were dead.”

James grinned at him. “Nine lives, Luke.”

Q nodded, his eyes trying to focus. “I like when you call me Luke…”

“And I’ll never stop calling you that.”

The two then sat in silence; the only sounds that could be hear were the sounds from the monitors that Q was hooked up against. James grunted and held onto his side as he sneered at the bandages. Q opened his mouth before he closed it.  

“How long was I there?” Q asked finally. “Time...time’s a little fuzzy…”

“Six days,” James stated angrily. “It took me six fucking days to find you.”

Q let his eyes wander to his left arm. “He took out my tracker.”

“I was following it before I lost it,” James told him quietly. “I assumed that’s when he took it out of you.” James shook his legs as he stared at the young man. “I shouldn’t have left.”

Q raised an eyebrow. “You were on a mission, you can’t fault yourself for doing your job.”

“I wasn’t protecting you.”

Q blinked as tears fell. “You did your job.”

James swallowed and moved to rest his forehead against the young man’s. “I almost lost you.”

Q scoffed. “It’ll take a little more than water to get rid of me.”

“My little kitten,” James stated quietly. “My little kitten and his nine lives.”

Q rolled his eyes while James grinned and Q transformed into his cat form. James followed suit and laid down on the bed. The hospital bed groaned underneath them but neither paid any mind. Q curled up against the lion and purred. James let out a purr himself and ran his tongue along the black cat’s fur before the two closed their eyes and slept.


End file.
